Shoe heel



M, 1950 F. VICENTE 2,509,302

SHOE HEEL Filed Aug. 27, 1948 Y F f /2 By nd@ Patented Mar. 14, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SHOE HEEL Francisco Vicente, Habana, Cuba Application August 27, 1948, Serial No. 46,492

In Cuba August 11, 1948 5 Claims. l

This invention relates to shoe heels, particularly to heels made of vulcanized-rubber or the like, and it has for its object to provide an improvement in a heel consisting of a base portion carrying a rotatable -disc which almost wholly forms the heel wearing surface and which is provided with a cylindrical flange raised at a right angle on the disc and adapted to be inserted into a cylindrical opening formed in the heel base portion, the disc being iirmly retained within said opening by means of a horizontal flange eX- tended from the top end of said raised flange and provided with a depending circular rim that fits within a circular groove formed at the base of a cylindrical recess at the top edge of the heel-base opening to receive said horizontal flange. By means of this improvement, in addition to the disc being allowed to rotatably move within the opening of the heel-base opening to thus permit an even wearing of the tread surface thereof, a tight holding means is provided between the disc and the heel base portion, which will prevent the heretofore easy withdrawal of the wearing disc.

Furthermore, the flange raised at a right angle on the disc inner face forms at the centre of the disc a horizontal-bottom cylindrical cavity that in addition to permitting an easy bending of the flange upon the disc for its elastic shrinkage and expansion when it be necessary to insert the disc into the heel base portion or to withdraw it therefrom, constitutes by itself an air chamber having a cushion function to absorb the shock of the footsteps in walking, thereby giving advantages of comfort te the footwear which none oi the known rotatable heels has shown.

The invention is described with reference to the gures of the accompanying drawing, of which:

Fig. 1 is a bottom plan view of the heel.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section view of the heel on line 2 2 oi Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the heel base portion taken from beneath.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the rotatable disc forming the supplement of the heel, taken from above.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a vertically broken-away half portion of the heel base portion to show the means for retaining the disc therein.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a vertically broken-away half portion of the rotatable disc to show the means for retaining it in the heel base portion.

In the drawing, I is the base portion of a vulpanized-rubber or like heel having a rounded rear portion and having angular corners 2 at the front portion. The corners 2 project a certain distance beneath the rounded portion of the base I, as shown in Fig. 3, to conform to the rotatable disc 3.

The rounded portion of the base portion I has a circular opening l! at the top edge of which is formed an annular recess 5 limited at the bottom by a raised annular rim 6 and an annular groove 'I adjacent the rim 0, the top face 8 of the rounded portion of the base I being inclined inwardly for a purpose that will be explained later.

The disc 3 has formed integrally therewith a plug comprising a cylindrical flange 9 raised at a right angle on the bottom i0 which preferably i will be thinner than the body of disc 3 (Figs. 2

and 6) and said raised ange 9 terminates at its upper edge in a horizontal flange il of a width equal to the width of the annular recess '5 of the base portion l, and from said horizontal iiange I2 an annular depending rim I2 projects downwardly beyond an inner groove I3. Preferably, the raised ange 9 is of a height slightly smaller than the height of the base portion I so that once the heel is placed in position on the shoe outer sole, the horizontal ange Ii will remain spaced apart from the outer sole as aided by the inclination of the top face 8 of the base portion I, to thus easily permit the rotation of the disc 3 Without causing friction on the shoe outer sole to which the heel face portion is secured by means of the usual brads driven through the holes Iii. The disc 3 also carries at its outer face a series of circular projecting ribs to render the heel non-skidding- The disc 3 is mounted beneath the rounded portion of base I with the raised cylindrical ange 9 introduced in the opening 4 and the horizontal iiange II inserted in the annular recess 5 of the base portion i until the depending rim I2 of disc 3 nts the annular groove I of the base I and the groove i3 of the disc 3 fits the raised rim i5 of base portion I, whereby the disc 3 is firmly held to the heel base portion I, at which time the disc 3, with its raised ange 9 within the opening II will be free to rotate.

As it is seen in Fig. 2 of the drawing, a cylindrical chamber I6 is formed at the center of the heel, the wall of which chamber is at a right angle with the bottom i0 thereof, whereby the raised ange 9 is allowed to bend inwardly or outwardly on the disc 3 to facilitate its elastic shrinkage or expansion when the plug formed by the iianges 9 and I I is inserted into the opening 5 of the heel base portion I or withdrawn therefrom. Furthermore, the air chamber I6 has a cushion function to absorb the shock of the footsteps in walking, thereby giving advantages of comfort to the footwear. By reason of the fact that the horizontal ange II of the disc 3 remains spaced apart froml the shoe outer sole, the disc 3 will be free to rotate within the opening 5 to be evenly worn through the automatic change of its position due to the frictioning of its lower face against the ground.

What I claim is:

1. A rubber heel for shoes, comprising a -base portion having a circular opening, and a separate disc provided at its inner facewith a concentric cylindrical flange fitted within the circular opening of said base portion, said cylindrical flange being provided at its free outer end with a horizontal ange fitting an annular recess in said base portion and ending in a depending rim fitted within an annular groove formed yat the base of said annular recess of said base portion to provide a firm retention between said base portion and said disc though allowing free rotatory movement of said disc.

2. A rubber or rubber-like heel for shoes, coinprising a base portion having a circular opening, and a separate disc provided at its ,inner face with a concentric cylindrical ilange fitted Within said circular opening of said base portion, said cylindrical flange being of less height than the circular opening of the base portion, said cylindrical flange being provided atv its free outer end with a horizontal iiange fitting within an annular i recess in said base portionand remaining spaced apartirorn the top faceleyel of said base portion, said horizontal flange ending in a depending rim fitting an annular groove formed at the base of said annular recess of said base portion to provide a firm retention between said base portion and said disc though allowing said ydisc to rotate freely.

3. A rubber or rubber-like heel for shoes, comprising a base portion having a circular opening, and a separate disc provided at its inner face with a concentric cylindrical ange raised at a right angle to said disc and fitted within said circular opening of said base portion, said disc being provided at its outer face with a series` of 'H projecting circular ribs, said cylindrical fiange being of less height than said circular opening of said `'frase portion, and said cylindrical flange being provided at its free outer end with a horizontal flange fitted within an annular recess of i said base portion and remaining vspaced apart from the top face of said base portionsaid horizontal ange ending in an annular `depending rim fitted within an annular groove formed at the base of said annular recess of said base vportion to provide a frm retention between base portion and said disc though allowing said disc to rotate freely, said raised cylindrical ange of said disc forming an inner air chamber which acts as a cushion shock absorber.

4. A rubber heel for shoes, comprising a base portion having a circular opening bounded at its inner edge by an annular raised rim encircled by an annular groove, means fastening said base portion to the shoe outer sole, and a separate disc provided at its inner face with a raised concentric cylindrical flange fitted within said circular opening oi said base portion, said cylindrical flange being provided at its outer end with a horizontal fiange engaging said raised rim of said base portion and ending in an annular depending rim tting said annular groove of said base portion to provide a firm retention between said ibase portion and said disc though allowing said vdisc to rotate freely.

5. A rubber heel for shoes, comprising a base portion having a rounded rear portionand having ktherein a circularrow'of holes and a central opening bounded at its inner edge by an annular raised rim` encircled by an annular groove, said base portion having an inwardly inclined top face, and a separate disc provided at its inner face with a concentric cylindrical flange raised at a right angle on a thin central portion of said disc and tted within said central opening of said base portion, said cylindrical flange having a height less than the height of said base portion to space the inner face of said disc from the shoe, said cylindrical ange being provided at its outer end with a horizontal flange engaging said raised rim of said base portion and ending in an annular depending rim fitted within said annular groove of said base portion to provide a firm retention between said base portion and said disc though allowing said disc to rotate freely without rubbing theshoe outer sole, said raised cylindrical flange of said disc forming an inner air chamber closed on its lower end by said thin portion of said disc and adapted to act as a cushion shock absorber.

FRANCISCO VICENTE.

REFERENCES lCITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,439,757 Redman Dec. 22, 1922 1,585,220 Willis May 18, 1926 2,300,635 Shepherd Nov. 3, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Num-ber Country Date y 17,609 France Oct. 13, 1 13 7966/05 Great Britain Apr. 14, 1 05 176,864 Germany Oct. 25, 1906 

